fii 


-.   ^/)3       Hertij,   Effianuel 
ihR  Lincoln 2   the  great  leyeler, 


LN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE  GREAT  LEVELER 


Delivered  at  the  Forum  of  the  Ley  el  Club 
February   7,   1928 


By 
EMANUEL  HERTZ 


Abraham  Lincoln 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://archive.org/details/abrahamlincolngrOOhert 


7> 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN— THE  GREAT  LEVELER 

By  EMANUEL  HERTZ 

T  TAKE  it  that  Masonry  is  one  of  the  many  ripe  flowers 
**•  blossoming  from  the  Book  of  books — the  best  companion 
of  mankind  in  its  travail  through  the  ages.  Its  long  line  of 
descent  traced  from  the  very  dawn  of  history,  from  the  reign 
of  the  wisest  of  men,  and  called  into  being  by  one  of  his  in- 
spired builders,  who  not  only  erected  the  miracle  among  his- 
torical edifices — King  Solomon's  Temple — but  also  laid  the 
foundation  of  this  historic  organization— its  religious  founda- 
tions, its  ethical  concepts,  the  balm  of  charity  in  which  it  is 
shrouded,  could  have  none  other  than  Biblical  origin.  Would 
you  know  how  it  survived,  how  and  why  it  escaped  destruction 
amidst  the  wreck  of  empires — and  the  overthrow  of  thrones — I 
'would  say,  as  did  the  biographer  of  the  great  architect  in  Lon- 
don when  asked  where  was  the  monument  of  Sir  Christopher 
Wren  "Circumspice" — "Look  about  you" — ^and  see  these  monu- 
ments, which  have  made  England's  imperial  city  beautiful  and 
awe-inspiring.  Look  around  you  in  all  the  deeds  of  charity,  the 
ties  of  fellowship,  the  clean  lives,  the  good  citizenship  we  live 
and  practice,  and  see  how  we  exemplify  the  great  principle  and 
concept  of  the  ages — "Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  For  has 
it  not  been  written :  "What  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but 
to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy 
God."    That,  in  short,  is  the  philosophy  of  Masonry. 

Where  in  the  world  could  you  find  a  character  who  led  a  life 
more  akin  to  this,  than  the  man  whose  one  hundred  and 
nineteenth  anniversary  we  are  celebrating  this  week  ? 

Brand  Whitlock,  one  of  the  few  men  who  has  attained  a 
glimpse  of  the  soul  of  Lincoln,  says: 

5 


787399 


"The  story  of  Lincoln,  perfect  in  its  unities,  appealing 
to  the  imagination  like  some  old  tragedy,  has  been  told 
over  and  over,  and  will  be  told  over  and  over  again.    The 
log  cabin  where  he  was  born,  the  axe  he  swung  in  the 
backwoods,  the  long  sweep  to  which  he  bent  on  the  flat- 
boat  in  the  river,  the  pine  knot  at  midnight, — these  are  the 
rough  symbols  of  the  forces  by  which  he  made  his  own 
slow  way.     Surveyor  and  legislator,  country  lawyer  riding 
the  circuit,  politician  on  the  stump  and  in  Congress,  the 
unwearied  rival  of  Douglas,  finally,  as  the  lucky  choice  of 
a  new  party,  the  President, — ^the  story  is  wholly  typical  of 
these  States  in  that  earlier  epoch  when  the  like  was  possi- 
ble to  any  boy.    But  the  story  does  not  end  here.    He  is  in 
the  White  House  at  last,  but  in  an  hour  when  realized  am- 
bitions turn  to  ashes,  the  nation  is  divided,  a  crisis  con- 
fronts the  land,  and  menaces  the  old  cause  of  liberty.    We 
see  him  become  the  wise  leader  of  that  old  cause,  the  sad, 
gentle  captain  of  a  mighty  war,  the  liberator  of  a  whole 
race,  and  not  only  the  saviour  of  a  republic,  but  the  creator 
of  a  nation;  and  then,  in  the  very  hour  of  triumph, — the 
tragedy  for  which  destiny  plainly  marked  him.     Rightly 
told,  the  story  is  the  epic  of  America." 
Some  men,  indeed,  are  born  Masons.     Most  of  us  achieve  it. 
If  ever  a  man  lived  and  acted  every  Masonic  precept,  exempli- 
fied every  Masonic  virtue,  practiced  the  full  Masonic  creed,  it 
was  Father  Abraham,  whose  heart  bled   for  all;  who  would 
suffer  if  he  did  not  replace  the  feeble  young  bird  to  its  nest 
from  which  it  had  fallen — whose  hand  would  not  sign  the  de- 
cree of  execution  in  any  case  where  the  slightest  reason  existed 
or  could  be  found  for  the  exercise  of  clemency — "J^^^^S^  not," 
said  he  repeatedly,  "lest  ye  be  judged"  whose  heart  revolted 
at  the  sight  of  the  auction  block,  whose  life  was  ultimately  given 
that  his  fellows  be  free. 

Within  the  last  two  decades,  the  Grand  Master  of  a  nearby 
jurisdiction,  arranged    for  the  creating  of   one  of   our   chief 


executives,  a  Master  Mason  at  sight.  That  particular  chief 
executive  was  so  occupied  with  the  tasks  in  the  service  of  his 
country,  as  SoHcitor  General,  Judge,  Proconsul,  Cabinet  officer, 
and  President,  and  finally  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
— that  like  Lincoln  he  had  no  time  to  enter  our  craft  through 
the  usual  portals — unlike  his  youthful  predecessor,  who  in- 
sisted and  found  time  for  coming  into  our  Order  in  the  manner 
others  have  gone  before  him.  If  President  Taft  was  prevented 
by  an  active  life  from  becoming  one  of  our  number  in  the 
usual  way,  how  much  more  occupied  was  Abraham  Lincoln. 
Before  becoming  absorbed  with  the  work  of  his  life,  he  prob- 
ably was  not  wanted.  And  when  he  came  to  Washington  and 
assumed  office — and  the  plague  had  broken  out — the  States  had 
begun  to  secede — he  stood  between  the  dead  and  the  dying,  and 
the  plague  was  stayed.  All  who  looked  up  to  Lincoln  were 
safe. — remained  in  the  Union,  secession  was  stayed,  the  border 
States  remained  in  the  Union  and  the  Union  was  saved;  the 
plague  of  secession  was  stopped  by  the  giant  grip  of  Lincoln. 
He  had  no  time  to  become  a  member  at  such  a  time — the  whole 
country  was  ablaze  with  rebellion. 

Not  one  of  the  other  twenty-eight  Presidents  was  as  worn 
out  with  the  labors,  not  only  of  the  office,  but  by  the  unending 
list  of  tasks  which  an  embattled  country  forced  upon  those  bur- 
den-bearing shoulders.  The  line  of  petitioners,  of  widows,  of 
mothers,  of  common  people,  of  neighbors,  of  statesmen,  and  of 
soldiers  never  ended — day  and  night — during  his  walks,  during 
his  meals,  on  his  way  to  and  from  the  hospitals,  on  the  lawns  of 
the  White  House,  he  was  hounded  and  waylaid,  interviewed  and 
importuned  for  a  thousand  and  one  things  which  taxed  his 
powers  to  the  limit.  Besides,  the  Cabinet  meetings,  the  War 
Office,  the  hospitals,  were  his  constant  abode.  Some  day  he 
hoped  to  go  to  Palestine — the  home  where  our  organization 
was  born.  When  could  this  man — the  most  overworked  mortal 
who  ever  occupied  public  office — become  a  candidate  for 
Masonry    and    go    through    the    usual    forms    of    Masonry? 


Have  you  any  doubt  whatever  that  had  he  had  the  time, 
had  the  opportunity  been  propitious,  that  all  the  State 
jurisdictions  in  the  land  would  not  only  have  been  happy  but 
eager  to  make  Abraham  Lincoln  a  Mason  at  sight. 

Masonry  levels  all  of  us  to  a  sense  and  state  of  fellowship 
where  all  are  kin — where  all  are  brothers — for  "how  nice  and 
pleasant  it  is  for  brothers  to  live  in  harmony" — "For  are  we 
not  all  children  of  one  Father,  hath  not  one  God  made  us  all?" 
In  appealing  to  his  departing  Southern  brethren,  did  he  not 
plead :  "We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends,  my  dissatisfied  coun- 
trymen." And  then  in  the  most  brotherly  fashion  refrained 
from  giving  cause  for  secession  and  rebellion,  hoping  to  the  end 
that  "the  mystic  chords  of  memory  stretching  from  every  battle- 
field and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all 
over  this  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union  when 
again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of 
our  nature." 

But  when  his  misguided  brethren  did  fire  the  shot  at  our 
flag — which  roused  every  patriot  from  coast  to  coast — he  was 
forced  into  the  fratricidal  war  and  brought  out  of  the  baptism 
of  fire  and  blood  a  recemented  Union  based  upon  equality  and 
freedom;  and  when  he  spoke  again  through  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  given  to  the  world — the  greatest  Masonic  act  in 
the  history  of  the  upward  struggle  of  the  race  for  equality  and 
for  freedom — the  world  heard ;  and  no  words  spoken  in  all  his- 
tory have  proven  so  potential  for  good,  or  have  so  calmed  the 
waters  of  discontent.  His  work  done — the  departing  States 
held  in  leash,  he  enters  upon  the  final  stage  of  immortality — 
the  Heavenly  gates  open  and  in  our  religious  fervor  with  which 
we  see  his  passing  on  and  up,  ascending  on  high  "purpling  the 
air  with  the  glory  of  his  name,"  bearing  to  Heaven  the  broken 
shackles  of  four  millions  of  slaves  and  laying  them  at  the  foot 
of  the  great  white  throne — a  peace-offering  for  the  patriot  blood 
shed  in  our  unnatural  strife — would  it  be  profane  to  suppose 

8 


that  Heaven's  music  grew  sweeter,  and  angels  quickened  their 
chorus,  as  the  joyous  chimes  from  earthly  tower  and  dome 
chanted  the  praises  of  a  race  redeemed,  and  our  glorified  dead 
mingled  their  voices  in  the  choir  above.  We  almost  hear  the 
judgment  of  our  Father  in  Heaven — "Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant."  And  then  the  afterglow,  the  black  despair— 
and  then  our  Masonic  brethren  not  only  here  but  all  over  the 
world — forty- three  foreign  Masonic  jurisdictions  are  heard 
from — enter  upon  a  period  of  mourning  for  their  departed 
brother — ^the  humble  rail-splitter,  the  poor  surveyor,  the 
struggling  lawyer,  the  village  postmaster,  the  modest  legislator, 
the  gaunt  captain  in  the  Black  Hawk  War,  the  one-term  Con- 
gressman, the  giant  debater,  the  Cooper  Union  seer  and  the 
martyr  President.  Every  Masonic  Lodge  in  the  Union  joins  in 
the  universal  mourning  service  for  the  departed  brother. 

All  masters  of  Masonic  lodges  announced  in  broken-hearted 
accents  why  the  membership  of  the  lodge  had  been  assembled 
on  that  sad  evening  and  ordered  the  lodge  draped  in  mourning 
— at  a  time  when  the  working  tools  of  life — which  worked  the 
deliverance  of  four  million  souls — and  the  restoration  of  the 
Government  of  the  people — fell  from  the  lifeless  hands  of 
Abraham  Lincoln — the  man  who  now  belongs  to  the  ages.  Oh ! 
that  some  student  of  Masonry — some  real  historian  of  the  ideas 
and  ideals  of  our  craft  would  gather  in  book  form  the  tributes 
of  the  Masonic  lodges  and  Grand  lodges,  to  the  great  liberator 
—the  great  Leveller — -who  was  the  noblest  and  most  inspired 
Mason  of  his  day  and  generation. 

Yes !  we  owe  it  to  ourselves,  we  owe  it  to  that  great  historic 
figure — to  show  the  world  that  we  ever  function  in  days  of 
sorrow  even  as  in  days  of  joy.  Others  have  done  it — the 
Church,  the  law,  the  statesmen — and  only  the  other  day,  rather 
belated  it  is  true — the  Synagogue.  Why  not  we?  Was  there 
ever  subject  more  attractive — was  there  ever  a  piece  of  historic 
justice  more  urgent — in  order,  if  for  naught  else— to  set  on 
edge  the  teeth  of  those  who  criticize  and  defame  us. 

9 


Yes,  he  comforted  the  widow,  as  no  other  mortal  did;  he 
guarded  the  orphan — ^his  last  plea  in  his  second  Inaugural,  the 
one  inspired  State  paper  of  the  Century,  was  for  the  widow  and 
orphan.  He  who  was  quick  to  pardon  and  forgive,  and  long- 
suffering  before  entering  upon  a  quarrel,  he  whose  sole  pas- 
sion was  a  united  country  under  God,  who  suffered  more  in 
performing  his  stern  tasks  than  any  other  human  being  in  our 
history,  who  was  visited  by  trials  and  tribulations,  who  was 
tried  by  the  loss  of  his  first  love  and  by  the  loss  of  his  child, 
even  as  he  was  orphaned  by  the  loss  of  his  angel  mother,  and 
yet  stood  erect,  unafraid  on  the  side  of  God — and  emerged 
victor,  emancipator,  preserver  of  his  people  and  pacificator  of 
his  country — he  was  indeed  a  Mason. 

Was  he  then  a  Mason  without  initiation?  You  might  as 
well  ask  was  he  a  lawyer  without  attending  a  law  school  ?  Was 
he  a  great  stylist  without  attending  a  University  of  higher 
learning?  Was  he  a  military  strategist  of  a  high  order — with- 
out any  military  experience?  Was  he  a  great  executive  and 
master  of  a  multitude  of  great  men,  without  any  previous 
executive  experience  ?  Was  he  a  diplomat  and  acquainted  with 
the  refinements  of  diplomatic  negotiation — frustrating  and 
holding  in  check  not  only  the  statesmen  of  the  South  but  a 
Palmerston,  a  Gladstone  and  a  Napoleon  the  Third — without 
ever  having  seen  a  diplomat  or  having  had  any  experience  in 
the  rudiments  of  that  game  of  kings  and  princes?  Was  he  an 
orator  and  author  of  an  address,  the  like  of  which  we  cannot 
find  except  if  we  go  back  two  thousand  years  and  listen  to 
Pericles,  without  the  study  of  the  classics  or  the  art  of  oratory? 
Was  he  a  man  of  deep  religious  faith  without  belonging  to  a 
church  ?  Do  you  not  see  that  you  cannot  apply  the  yardstick  to 
a  man  of  his  mold?  He  acted  as  a  Mason  would,  he  lived  as  a 
Mason  lives,  he  was  indeed  a  Mason ! 

The  ritual  which  few  of  us  ever  master,  and  if  we  do  for  the 
time  being,  never  remember,  that  ritual  which  only  the  few 
select  of  our  craft  study  and  remember — he  lived  and  acted 

10 


and  exemplified.  The  Masonic  virtues,  the  practice  of  which 
are  enjoined  on  us  if  we  are  to  be  exemplars  of  our  craft, — 
Lincoln  lived  and  acted  and  believed  and  practiced.  He  was 
the  noblest  type  of  Bible  student  without  being  a  teacher  or 
preacher  of  Holy  Writ.  But  he  lived  in  the  spirit  of  the  Bible 
and  became  one  of  the  inspired  seers  and  leaders  of  all  time. 

And  it  is  for  us  to  quote  the  sayings  of  this  member  of  our 
craft — to  study  the  lessons  of  his  truly  Masonic  life,  his 
achievements,  his  trials,  his  sufferings,  and  condense  the  narra- 
tive of  the  achievements  of  that  great  mind — pick  out  his 
maxims,  his  rules  of  life,  and  proceed  to  yonder  altar — open 
our  priceless  and  perpetual  ornament  and  source  of  all  life  and 
religion,  where  the  old  ends  and  the  new  begins — in  that  twi- 
light zone  where  the  misunderstandings  of  the  millenia  have 
kept  apart  brother  and  brother,  have  made  war  between  people 
and  people — and  acting  upon  the  advice  of  Brother  Ben 
Altheimer — write  upon  those  blank  pages  which  seem  to  sepa- 
rate the  old  and  the  new — ^the  life,  the  achievements,  the  prin- 
ciples, the  priceless  maxims  of  that  God- intoxicated  soul — and 
thus  add  a  connecting  link  of  the  purest  gold  between  the  old 
Testament  and  the  New,  and  write  the  final  chapter  in  that 
tome  which  Wycliffe  called  "a  book  of  the  people,  by  the  peo- 
ple and  for  the  people" — consisting  of  the  life  concepts  of  him 
who  made  sure  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people 
and  for  the  people  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. 


11 


Since  the  delivery  of  the  foregoing,  the  following  corre- 
spondence came  into  my  hands,  which  throws  a  very  illuminat- 
ing phase  on  this  interesting  question.  However,  I  spread  it  in 
full  for  whatever  it  is  worth. 


PROBATE  COURT  OF  COOK  COUNTY 

Chambers  of 

JUDGE  HENRY  HORNER 

Chicago 

March 

Thirteenth 

1928 

Mr.  Emanuel  Hertz, 

149  Broadway, 

New  York  City,  New  York 

Dear  Mr.  Hertz : 

I  am  enclosing  you  herewith  a  copy  of  the  correspondence 
which  I  had  with  Mr.  C.  H.  Spilman,  a  friend  of  mine  of 
Edwardsville,  Illinois,  the  publisher  of  a  newspaper  there,  and 
who  preceded  me  as  Grand  Orator  of  the  Grand  Masonic  Lodge 
of  Illinois.  These  are  the  copies  of  the  originals  which  I  have 
and  you  may  retain  them — ^you  can  see  by  Mr.  Spilman's  letter 
that  they  are  free  to  use  for  such  purposes  as  you  desire.  *  *  * 

I  trust  that  the  enclosed  will  be  of  some  service  to  you  in 
your  prospective  opus. 

Yours  very  truly, 

HENRY  HORNER. 


12 


EDWARDSVILLE  INTELLIGENCE 
Intelligencer  Company 
Edwardsville,  Illinois 

January  21,  1927. 
Hon.  Henry  Horner, 
Judge  of  the  Probate  Court, 
Chicago,  Illinois. 

Dear  Judge : 

Even  the  longest  lane  has  a  turning  according  to  tradition, 
and  I  bethought  me  today  of  my  promise  to  you  several  years 
ago  and  have  hunted  up  my  record  of  the  Lincoln  incident 
which  you  were  desirous  of  receiving.  It  is  inclosed  herewith 
with  my  apologies  for  its  long  delay. 

With  personal  regards,  I  am 

Sincerely  yours, 

C.  H.  SPILMAN. 
CHS-HGS 


13 


Seal  Supreme  Council 

330  A  A  S  R  Nor.  Mas.  Jur. 

USA 

Office  of  the 

GRAND  SECRETARY— GENERAL  H.  E. 

299  Broadway 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

February  9th,  1927. 
Judge  Henry  Horner, 
Probate  Court, 
Cook  County, 
Chicago,  111. 

Dear  Brother  Horner: 

Acknowledging  receipt  of  your  very  pleasant  letter  of  Feb- 
ruary 3rd,  wish  to  say  that  you  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  use 
the  material  you  mention  in  any  way  or  at  any  time  you  see 
fit. 

With  personal  regards,  I  am 

Sincerely  yours, 

C.  H.  SPILMAN, 
Gr.  Secretary-General. 
CHS/HWA 


14 


This  story  was  told  me  by  K.  D.  Gross,  of  Edwardsville,  who 
well  remembers  Judge  Joseph  Gillespie  and  other  friends  of 
Lincoln.  It  was  given  to  him  direct  by  the  man  who  figured  in 
it — Charles  Fisher,  of  Springfield,  Grand  Senior  Warden  of 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois.  They  were  on  their  way  to  Lin- 
coln, 111.,  to  a  commandery  meeting  one  time  and  Gross  men- 
tioned to  Fisher  that  he  had  heard  various  stories  concerning 
Lincoln  and  Masonry.  "You  knew  Lincoln  intimately  and 
well"  said  Gross,  "I  wish  you'd  tell  me  what  his  views  were." 

Fisher  said  that  he  would  and  proceeded  to  do  so.  This  was 
several  years  before  Fisher's  death  and  his  mind  was  clear  and 
entirely  normal. 

He  said  that  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois  met  at  Springfield 
in  the  fall  of  1860.  Lincoln  had  been  nominated  for  the 
presidency  at  the  convention  in  Chicago  that  summer.  In  con- 
sequence his  name  was  on  many  lips  and  thoughts  of  him  were 
in  many  minds  ,as  the  election  was  near  at  hand. 

The  Grand  Lodge  in  those  days  was  not  the  tremendous 
convention  of  the  present  but  a  small,  compact  organization, 
whose  members  knew  each  other  as  Jim  or  Bill,  and  was  char- 
acterized at  times  by  considerable  informality.  The  first  morn- 
ing, after  routine  business  had  been  disposed  of,  general  topics 
were  discussed  and  somebody  mentioned  Lincoln. 

One  and  then  another  said  that  they  had  never  met  him  but 
would  like  to  very  much.  Presently  it  was  decided  that  all 
would  like  to  see  the  sturdy  figure  then  so  near  to  the  national 
honors.  It  was  suggested  and  decided  that  if  suitable  arrange.- 
ments  could  be  made  the  Grand  Lodge  would  recess  and  they'd 
all  go  over  and  visit  him.  Charles  Fisher,  who  I  believe  was 
not  Grand  Master  at  that  time  but  in  the  line,  was  asked  to 
arrange  it. 

Fisher  went  across  to  the  capital,  where  the  "Governor's 
room"  so  called,  on  the  south  side,  had  been  put  at  the  dis- 

15 


posal  of  Mr.  Lincoln  for  his  political  conferences.  His  law 
offices  were  across  from  the  capital  on  the  west  side  if  I  re- 
member rightly,  and  there  he  attended  to  business,  but  in  this 
office  room  in  the  capital  he  met  his  political  visitors.  He  said 
that  he  would  be  delighted  to  meet  the  gentlemen,  and  he  and 
Fisher  arranged  for  the  visit  to  be  on  the  following  day. 

Accordingly,  next  day  at  the  appointed  hour  the  Grand  Lodge 
filed  down  the  street  to  the  capital  and  into  Mr.  Lincoln's  office. 
It  was  a  bare,  barn  like  room,  and  in  anticipation  of  the  coming 
of  the  visitors  there  had  been  in  from  other  offices  round-about 
a  lot  of  the  hard  wooden  chairs  such  as  at  present  grace  the 
wash  house  on  Monday.  They  retailed  at  fifty  cents  apiece  at 
the  cross  roads  stores  until  the  war  intervened. 

Each  of  the  visitors  was  introduced  by  Fisher.  Greetings 
were  exchanged  all  around  and  the  party  was  seated.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln wrapped  his  legs  around  each  other  in  a  manner  which  he 
had,  and  the  conversation  became  general. 

Presently  in  a  lull  Mr.  Lincoln  with  recognition  of  the 
fraternal  relations  of  his  visitors  made  this  observation: 
"Gentlemen,  I  have  always  entertained  a  profound  respect  for 
the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  I  have  long  cherished  a  desire  to 
become  a  member,  but  I  have  never  petitioned  because  I  have 
felt  my  own  unworthiness  to  do  so.*' 

Of  course,  there  was  a  chorus  of  protest,  the  visitors  assert- 
ing that  he  must  not  let  this  modesty  prevent  the  realization  of 
the  desire  he  professed. 

Mr.  Lincoln  continued:  "I  might  be  overcoming  my  hesi- 
tancy and  be  petitioning  at  the  present  time,  but  1  am  a  candi- 
date for  a  political  office,  and  by  some  such  action  would  be 
misconstrued.  For  this  reason,  because  my  motives  would  be 
misconstrued,  I  must  for  the  time  being  refrain." 

The  conversation  then  turned  to  other  channels.  Lincoln 
was    elected,    became    engrossed    in    the    war    problems,    was 

16 


assassinated,  and  so  far  as  his  friends  in  Springfield  ever 
learned,  never  presented  a  petition  to  a  Masonic  Lodge.  He 
maintained  his  home  at  Springfield,  and  so  would  have  had 
to  petition  there.  Fisher  was  deeply  interested  in  all  the 
Masonic  bodies  there  and  would  have  known  if  Lincoln  had 
ever  petitioned.  Gross'  brother  was  secretary  of  the  second 
lodge,  which  was  not  organized  until  '59.  It  was  known  as 
Tyrian  Lodge.  Fisher  was  master  of  Springfield,  No.  4.  Gross 
asked  Fisher  direct  if  Lincoln  had  ever  petitioned  a  Masonic 
lodge  and  was  told  positively  that  he  never  had. 

I  mention  this  because  of  reports  which  are  from  time  to 
time  current  to  the  effect  that  Lincoln  had  been  rejected  as  an 
applicant  for  Masonry,  that  he  did  not  favor  the  order,  etc. 
Fisher  knew  Lincoln  well  and  knew  the  Gross  family  well. 
K.  D.  was  the  youngest  son  of  Elder  A.  Gross,  a  notable  figure 
of  Central  Illinois  in  the  early  days. 


17 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 

973.7L63GH44A  C001 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  THE  GREAT  LEVELER  NY 


3  0112  03 


819169 


7 


8 


10 


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